Thursday, February 24, 2011

Menu for 2/24/2011 - Poached Salmon with cliantro lime sauce (Dude2)

I thought I'd do a little experimenting in the kitchen today, so I made some poached salmon with a creamy cilantro lime sauce, and broccoli and rice for the sides. All in all I'd say it was pretty good. The cheese sauce was a little strange (mozzarella makes a very stretchy "sauce") but it was well-received.Cheese Sauce:

3 Tbsp grass fed butter

2 Tbsp flour

1 C. raw whole grass fed milk

1 C. shredded cheese

(optional) a splash of dry white wine

Melt the butter in a saucepan and heat until it is just foamy. Add the flour, increase heat to medium-high, and stir constantly for about 3 minutes. With whisk at the ready, dump in the milk and immediately start whisking. If you want to add the wine, now is the time. Continue heating the sauce until it thickens considerably, then stir in the cheese.

Normally, I use either cheddar (in which case I substitute beer for some or all of the milk) or swiss for the cheese in this sauce. This time I used mozzarella as an experiment because it was the only cheese available. As you can see, it's not really a "sauce" any more...

Creamy Cilantro Lime Sauce:

2 egg yolks (from pastured hens)

3/4 C. raw whole grass fed milk

1/4 tsp sea salt

Juice of 1-2 limes, to taste

1/4 C finely chopped cilantro

Whisk eggs and milk together in a medium saucepan. Stir constantly over medium heat until sauce thickens to approximately the consistency of heavy cream, then add the cilantro and lime juice, stir to combine, and remove from heat. If you overheat the sauce in the first part, you can pass it through a strainer to remove the bits of egg.

Poached Salmon:

Three serving-sized wild caught Alaskan sockeye salmon fillets

2 Tbsp grass fed butter

1/2 C. dry white wine

1/2 tsp dry dill

1 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro

Melt the butter in a good sized skillet or fry pan, and put the salmon in, skin side down. Add the wine, and sprinkle with dill and cilantro. Bring to a low simmer, cover, and cook until it is just done (5-10 minutes, depending on heat).

Drizzle the cilantro lime sauce over the salmon fillets and the plate, then dish up the broccoli and rice. The cheese sauce is perfect on broccoli, and the rice just needs a little butter and some sea salt.